Kickstarter (KS) has become a home to some of the most iconic titles and franchises of the tabletop universe. It brought to life the likes of Kingdom Death Monster, Exploding Kittens, and the current number 1, Gloomhaven. So, it’s no surprise that you’ll find the most intriguing and, quite possibly, next hit board game on the platform.

Today, we’ll take a look at the current ongoing projects that piqued our interest, some of these are looking really promising, while others are real surprises from Indie devs.

Table of Contents

Author’s Note: The list is based on the current interests of the writers here at Dice & D-Pads, which are co-op games, fantasy games, dungeon crawlers, and card games. Hence, these are most probably the types you’ll see on the list.

Ignite

Ignite is Ginger Snap Gaming’s baby that landed on Kickstarter a few days ago and got its funding in just 36 hours. The game is a mixture of strategy, miniature combat, and deckbuilding. It supports up to 6 players initially but if stretch goals are achieved that’ll bump up to 8.

Ignite, at its core, is a competitive Player vs Player brawl, where only one player wins (either by being the last man standing or by getting the most trophies). However, by adding in the expansion packs, a group or a single player can go against waves of enemies

The game features different races, each with their own special abilities and traits, as well as gorgeous looking minis. Combat is governed by a deckbuilding system, where players assemble and improve a deck of cards. These cards can range from blatant attacks to movement and support, each with their own advantage and disadvantages.

There are also terrains that affect combat in various ways, such as impede movement or even instantly kill a player’s unit. Hence, the importance of tactical board placement. What’s really interesting about Ignite though, is that no player gets eliminated from the game, even if they lose all of their units.

Instead, players will spawn what the game calls water minions, which will act as their new units. However, players will lose the use of their decks but at least they can still be involved and even possibly win the match. We’re also enjoying the fact that the minis have dagger slots on their backs for damage representation. This makes minis look like they’ve been stabbed in the back.

Ignite’s base pledge costs $89(~Php 4,599), this gets you the base game along with the Centaur KS exclusive race. Pledges can go as high as $189 (~Php 9,766), the most expensive one (Ignite – All in Pledge) includes the base game and all the current expansions. The project ends in 19 days and is estimated to be delivered on May 2020, you can check it out here.

Dungeonology: the expedition

Dungeonology: the expedition by Ludus Magnus Studio, is a miniatures tabletop game with a unique take on the dungeon crawler genre. It takes 2-4 players on an adventure not to kill and grab magical treasures but rather to study habitats, uncover secrets, and create the best thesis. That’s because the game’s setting is focused on a university named Rocca Civetta.

The goal is for a player to gather the most or best quality information to be the best Scholar among the bunch. The game makes use of traditional dungeon crawler mechanics where players explore zones (represented by tiles). These zones are procedurally generated as new random tiles get added to the board during a player’s exploration.

Players have in their arsenal trick cards and student assistants, which are used to perform certain actions that could benefit them or impede others. That’s not all though, as among the student assistants is a notorious member of the Omega Brotherhood, an evil organization whose aim is to obscure the player’s plans.

Of course, apart from being wary of their fellow scholars, players also have to watch out for the dangers they encounter during explorations. This includes encountering bosses, creatures, traps, and whatnots.

The base pledge of Dungeonology: the expedition is priced at $89 (~Php 4,599), it includes the core game and all unlocked stretch goals. The Professor level pledged (the highest one) is priced at $119 (~Php 6,149), it includes the core game, all unlocked stretch goals, and the Circle expansion (a KS exclusive). The project ends in 18 days and is estimated to be delivered on April 2020, you can check it out here.

Age of Civilization

Age of Civilization by Ice Makes is a pocket-sized civilization card game for 1-4 players. The game brings in a rather unique twist to the genre as it allows players to play through 3 civilizations instead of just one. As the game progresses some civilizations may not be able to adapt well through the changes leading to their downfall. However, that doesn’t mean the end as players can raise another civilization inheriting the advantages of the one they’ve lost.

The game has high replayability thanks to the multiple possible combinations of Civilizations, giving players the beauty of discovering synergies among the choices. Just like any Civilization game, players are tasked with maintaining their cultures, collecting resources, and building and upgrading structures.

All of this is placed in a pocket-sized package, much like what we have with the well-known Tiny Epic series. The entire game is played just over 6 rounds, after which the player with the most points wins. The base pledge for Age of Civilization is priced at $27 (~Php 1,395), it includes the base game and all stretch goals. The Legendary Civ! pledge (the highest one) is priced at $52 (~Php 2,687), it includes the base game, all stretch goals, and all add-ons.

There are also optional buys which range from $4.5 (~Php 232) up to $22 (~Php 1,136). These optional buys include a playmat, stickers, tokens, and a gilded box. The project ends in 6 days and is estimated to be delivered on August 2019, you can check it out here.

Ocean Crisis: Unite To Save The Ocean

Ocean Crisis: Unite To Save The Ocean by Shepherd Kit, Inc. is a cooperative worker placement game where players are tasked to, well, save the ocean. The game puts 2-5 players in the shoes of the Ocean Defense Team, tasked with cleaning up ocean garbage, conducting research and development, and stopping the formation of an organization that could destroy the oceans forever.

The goal of the game is for players to survive 6 rounds by preventing garbage tiles from overcoming Garbage Island. Not only that, as players will also encounter environmental rescue missions and scenarios with unique mechanisms and storylines.

Each round is divided into 3 main steps — Planning,Action, and River Flow & Ocean Current.

Planning — During this step players place their meeples at different locations on the map. These meeples are then tasked to either clean garbage or research green technology and eco-skills for use in future rounds.

Action — This step is broken down into two parts — Garbage Cleanup and Eco Movement. Garbage Cleanup determines if a piece of garbage is cleaned, reduced, or put into research. This is determined by a dice roll and a single garbage tile can be worked on by different members. Eco Movement, on the other hand, allows players to upgrade personal skills and perform green technology actions or reinforcements.

River Flow & Ocean Current — This step determines the flow of garbage tiles in the game, starting from the river to the ocean then eventually to Garbage Island.

What makes the Ocean Crisis so interesting is that it mimics real-world problems and somewhat offers and teaches solutions that may be applied to policies. Even more so as the game is child-friendly, so apart from having an enjoyable game it also teaches the young generation of the current situation of our oceans. In any case, the base pledge of Ocean Crisis is priced at $38 (~Php 1,963), it includes the base game and all unlocked stretch goals.

The Special Bundle Pledge (the highest pledge currently available) is priced at $108(~Php 5,580), it includes the base game, all unlocked stretch goals, the Catastrophe expansion, Numeracy Legends: The Rainbow Unicorn, Numeracy Legends: The Zerda Fox, Numeracy Legends: The Gluttony Dragon, and the Rainbow Unicorn Collection Set. The project ends in 17 days and is estimated to be delivered on September 2019, you can check it out here.

Reroll

Reroll by Team Reroll, isn’t technically a tabletop game but it kind off caught our attention since its a great companion app to Dungeons & Dragons (DnD). Reroll is basically a visual character sheet up for the well-known tabletop roleplaying title, it allows players to create their own DnD characters in Pixel fashion.

Although, it doesn’t just let players create badass pixel avatars, it also keeps track of their character’s stats, spells, inventory, equipment, and even allows note taking as well as combat assistance. It even has a pet slot, though for now, it’s just for vanity. The devs are, however, planning on adding a true pet slot with stats in future updates.

The base pledge for Reroll is priced at $8 (~Php 413), which includes an account key with all armors and weapons unlocked, backer-exclusive animated weapons, backer-exclusive pet slot, beta early access, and access to upcoming features and participation in feedback rounds. Higher pledges, apart from the two most expensive ones, add additional account keys for a discount, basically a pledge for groups.

Pledges can go as high as $995 (~Php 51,416), the Legendary Pack (highest level), includes all the perks of lower pledges as well as a 16-bit commissioned game poster of the backer’s party, 8 account keys, and the backer will be credited as a Legendary Backer on the app and website. The project ends in 38 days and is estimated to be delivered on August 2019, you can check it out here.

That’s a wrap!

And there you have it, these are the current Tabletop Kickstarter projects that caught our attention. If only we had the budget, we’ll back them all. In any case, we know these aren’t the only interesting projects out on the platform, so if you have a different taste in board games head on over to the Tabletop Kickstarter section and browse away!